This invention relates to furniture, and in particular to furniture having interchangeable components.
In conventional upholstered furniture, such as chairs, loveseats, sofas and sleepers, the standard method of construction utilizes a fully assembled wood or wood-product frame having a seat, a front rail and a back rail. The frame is covered by a non-removable fabric covering, and upholstery consisting of materials such as fiber and foam are attached to the fabric covering. Springs, webbing or other means of support are permanently attached below the seat to the front and back rails. The pitch of the seat is determined by the difference in height between the front and back rails.
It is also conventional to provide furniture having a sleeper mechanism and folding mattress permanently attached to a wood frame. However, conventional furniture designed to receive a sleeper mechanism requires a completely different size and design of frame than a non-sleeper sofa having the same appearance. The spring units used in conventional sofas and the sleeper mechanisms used in sleeper-type sofas are not interchangeable either before or after the upholstering process.
Back cushions used with both types of furniture, sleeper and non-sleeper, may be either "tight" (upholstered as part of the overall frame) or "loose" (individual cushions separate from the frame). In both types of furniture, once the frame has been completed only minimal modifications can be made in the shape and style of the upholstered piece. It cannot be altered once the fabric covering has been attached.
The design of conventional upholstered furniture imposes many limitations on the manufacturer, the retailer and the consumer. The manufacturer is faced with an industry that demands constant style changes, although such changes are difficult to make because there are few interchangeable parts among the many different styles and few styles are popular for more than two or three years. As a result, he is forced to periodically design and fabricate new components for each style. Frequent redesign of the product and retooling of production equipment imposes a heavy burden on the manufacturer in terms of both inventory control and maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
Another limitation on the manufacturer is that upholstered furniture tends to be large, bulky and heavy. Accordingly, shipping is expensive with the result that it is rarely cost-effective for a manufacturer of upholstered furniture to ship his products over long distances. Consequently, many manufacturers of upholstered furniture find that they must have several factories located in different parts of the country to reduce freight costs. The high cost of freight also accounts for the fact that few upholstered products produced in this country are exported overseas. In addition, cartons suitable for the shipping of furniture are quite expensive, and this has lead manufacturers to ship upholstered items in less protective plastic wraps thereby risking damage to their products.
The retailer of upholstered furniture also faces many problems. Since the product is bulky, expensive display and warehousing facilities must be provided. The typical customer is seeking a wide selection of styles, designs and sizes to choose from, and often demands immediate delivery once he has made his choice. It is difficult for a retailer to provide such service without huge inventory, warehouse and showroom costs.
Another problem faced by the retailer is that merchandise not sold in a relatively short time tends to become soiled or broken. Cleaning upholstered furniture is difficult and repairs usually require the services of a skilled technician. Both are expensive. Fast selling products can also create problems because reorders usually take six to twelve weeks, and this means the retailer may be without a best seller for an extended period of time.
Shopping for upholstered furniture can be a frustrating experience for the consumer. The typical retail purchaser is often unfamiliar with the brand names of upholstered furniture and there is no practical way he or she can check the quality of an item. Locating a suitable item may be difficult because some stores sell only sofas and chairs with few loveseats, while others sell only sleepers. Even enormous warehouse showrooms cater only to the most popular tastes of the moment. Less popular sizes and styles are not stocked by most retailers.
The consumer must make a wide range of decisions before and after purchasing furniture. In the case of a sofa, consideration must be given to matching the sofa with existing room decor, and predictions must be made as to whether the sofa whose purchase is contemplated will harmonize with possible future decorating schemes. After the sofa has become worn, it may be covered with custom slip covers. However, such covers are usually expensive, clumsy and fit loosely thereby obscuring the tailored look of the original sofa design. Reupholstry costs are nearly the same as buying a new piece and, as explained above, even simple cleaning of an upholstered piece is difficult and best left to professionals. In addition, while the frame of a sofa or chair normally lasts far longer than the fabric or cushions, the current state of upholstered furniture technology does not permit cost-effective recycling of the furniture frame.
Still another limitation placed upon the consumer is that he or she must decide whether or not to buy a sofa of a type suitable for sleeping. Current upholstered furniture technology does not allow the installation of a sleeper mechanism and mattress in a sofa of the non-sleeper type.
There have been attempts to correct some of these design limitations. For example, the Faulkner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,966 discloses a knock-down sofa having replaceable parts. However, the sofa disclosed in this patent provides little flexibility in styling, employs a simple frame construction which is not easily adaptable to a large number of styles and designs, and cannot accommodate a sleeper mechanism.
There have also been attempts to improve the design of conventional upholstered furniture by making improvements in removable slip covers. Such covers have several advantages in that they can be removed for cleaning, replaced if damaged and changed when redecorating. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,147 to Testa discloses a removable slip cover that simulates a tailored appearance similar to conventional upholstered furniture. However, the upholstery assembly disclosed by Testa is relatively expensive because it uses both sub-upholstery and a removable cover over the sub-upholstery. The Testa chair cannot accommodate a sleeper mechanism and provides little flexibility in styling. The frame construction described in Testa is suitable only for chairs or sofas with substantially perpendicular arms. A curved arm recovered using Testa's method would appear to be straight.